No. SB 766
Filed under Environment & Water.
Waste Management; Deleting obsolete provisions that provide legislative findings and require the Department of Environmental Protection to review and update a specified report; preempting the regulation of auxiliary containers to the state; permitting rules, regulations, or ordinances restricting the use of glass auxiliary containers within the boundaries of a public beach; authorizing the Division of Recreation and Parks to regulate auxiliary containers within state parks; specifying that certain local ordinances and restrictions are permitted, etc.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDThe bill defines 'auxiliary container' broadly to include bags, cups, bottles, cans, and other packaging made of plastic, paper, foam, glass, or similar material used by retailers and food establishments, and expressly preempts regulating those containers to the state.
Local governments may no longer enact or enforce any rule, regulation, or ordinance governing the use, sale, or taxation of auxiliary containers unless a law explicitly permits it, replacing a preemption that had been contingent on a report the Legislature never acted on.
Three exceptions survive: local ordinances restricting glass containers on public beaches, state park rules on auxiliary containers set by the Division of Recreation and Parks, and any local ordinances already authorized under a separate statute.
The bill also deletes obsolete legislative findings and a mandate that the Department of Environmental Protection update a 2010 report on retail bags, a requirement whose 2021 deadline had already passed.
AIThe bill defines 'auxiliary container' to include any reusable or single-use bag, cup, bottle, can, or other packaging made of plastic, paper, foam, cardboard, aluminum, glass, or similar material used to carry or protect food, beverages, or merchandise.
AIRegulation of auxiliary containers becomes expressly preempted to the state outright, replacing a version of preemption that had been conditioned on a DEP report and Legislature action that never occurred.
AILocal and state governmental agencies may not enact or enforce any rule, regulation, or ordinance on the use, sale, disposition, restriction, or tax of auxiliary containers unless a law explicitly permits it, meaning existing local ordinances outside the exceptions become unenforceable.
AILocal rules, regulations, or ordinances that restrict glass auxiliary containers within the boundaries of a public beach remain explicitly permitted despite the new statewide preemption.
AIThe Division of Recreation and Parks may still regulate auxiliary containers within state parks, consistent with its existing authority, despite the general state preemption.